Summer is for Retreats

Both groups of older children were able to participate in retreats this summer (ok, technically it was still spring since summer officially starts mid June but the college retreat was at the end of May and the teen retreat was the week before summer 🙂 ). The college group went to the mountains to go white water rafting but they got so much more! Their time there was filled with fellowship, good food and teaching, dancing, rock wall climbing, reaching new heights in the big swing, and yes, white water rafting (I just don’t have pictures of that part) . They had such a good time! Jozsef and Nikolas were blessed with great new experiences and making new friends.

The teens went camping at the lake and enjoyed fellowship and food, discussions and sunrise service, cardboard box boat races and several other beachside games, along with tent and hammock camping. Jozsef taught some and played lots. Sonja and Connor enjoyed play time with friends and even found themselves on the same teams from time to time. Great bonding experiences. They all returned a bit sun kissed and worn out but they would have told you they could have stayed longer.

I’m so glad they all were able to attend. Retreats are highlights of the year for sure!

Well Lookie Here

SO...I tried to leave, really I did. I created new content on another site and fully planned to transition over. However, after much effort, I decided that the new plan was just not working and I had lost much precious time. SO...I plan on moving all of that work onto this site and then dive in to catch up. The dates will not line up like they should, but at least there will be documentation. WELCOME BACK!

That's a Wrap

 This blog journey was an unexpected one.  I joined in on the fad years ago.  In the beginning, it was a great way to keep in the loop with friends and family.  Over time, as people drifted away from blog land, it filled the gap for scrapbooks, which had also gone by the wayside.  In so many ways it's been wonderful, but times are changing and so will my format for historical records.  I'm sure I'll miss this in some way, but I find the change necessary.  For those of you who have faithfully followed us over the years, thank you for keeping up with our antics.  Please look to make connections with us through email, text, phone calls, snail mail.  :-)  Until we meet again...

Some of His Favorite Things

 Jozsef grew up loving dinosaurs and Stargate.  It was very apropos that the Jurassic saga was ending an era right around his birthday.  We celebrated Jozsef's 22nd birthday with a meal he loves--tater tot casserole, his favorite cake--German chocolate with coconut pecan frosting, and the final dinosaur movie in the Jurassic World series--Dominion.  

The food was yummy, the movie was well done and a great wrap up, and the company was great!  At the theatre, someone had a super fun Jeep parked in the lot and we couldn't pass up taking a few pictures (Jeep and Jurassic = Awesome!).  

It was such a blessing to enjoy the time with Jozsef and to celebrate having him for another year.  Happiest of birthdays Jozsef!  We love you!  

Hannah's Hike

This is the year she's been waiting for--her entrance into double digits!  She's watched her siblings before her set out on adventures and come back with great memories and she's been itching to get to this point--her tenth year!  Ten is big here in our house.  Not only does the birthday child go on a hike, but the sibling just before them in line also goes as to share in the experience and impart knowledge.  The birthday child also gets their first pocket knife.  Honestly, I don't know which excited her more--the hike or the knife but Hannah was  counting down the days for at least a month!  

Hike day was gorgeous--and thankfully arrived before the real heat (we are currently on week two of 100 degrees).  John took Riley and Hannah out early to drive to the canyon.  They visited three waterfalls and walked plenty of trail enduring humidity and becoming little waterfalls themselves (they were soaked through in sweat!).  They loved the hike and made great memories together--but the day wasn't over yet!

Since Hannah's birthday landed on Memorial Day proper, there was more on the docket.  They drove out to meet the rest of us at a friend's house for a BBQ and a small memorial service.  Our host, Mr. Abernathy, is a vet and his dad fought in Normandy.  He gave an account of the war from his dad's memories and we took the time to remember and honor the fact that freedom is far from free.  Then we all sang happy birthday to Hannah and finished out the day with food and fellowship.  We were tired a the end of the night--especially our hikers, but it was a good tired.  

She was shy about it, but she appreciated that her birthday was recognized 

Cake and gifts were the following evening.  Hannah proudly chose to have an American themed cake.  We had a great time celebrating Hannah and we are all super happy to welcome her into the tween years--it's amazing that there are no longer any children in the house under that benchmark.  Happy Birthday Hannah!  We love you! 

Silver Status

Dear Heavenly Father, 

We thank You for the grace and blessings You have given us during the past 25 years of marriage.  We celebrate and recall the day when we joined together as partners in life and we thank You for being with us on our daily journey together through life's ups and downs.  

Increase our sense of belonging to each other, as reflected in Jesus' statements in Matthew 19:5-6, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.  So they are no longer two, but one flesh".

We thank You that You have freely given us Your presence, strength, help, and hope.  We pray that we will continue to grow in our ability to work together for the good of our family and for the good of the world.

 Fill us with love, forgiveness, patience, and trust.  

Guide us with the light of Your word and help us to grow in Your love so that we can better reflect it to each other as it is defined in 1Corinthians 13:4-8, "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails".

Increase our sense of companionship and friendship.  Grant us the ability to laugh at our mistakes and the means to share the simple pleasures of life together.  

Enable us to speak the truth in love.  Help us to be good listeners.  Grant us wisdom and a spirit of cooperation as we seek to follow Your good plans for us in the tough issues and challenges we face.  

Surround us with good friends and neighbors.  Protect our home.  Care for our family,  Provide for our needs.  Guard our health.  Bless our marriage and may we enjoy many more anniversaries together.  

In the name of Christ we pray, 

Amen.

We've reached silver status!  Not only in our grey hairs but also in our years of marriage.  :-)  We celebrated this week and reflected on this very noteworthy milestone.   God, in His providence, continues to stretch and sustain us both individually and together while He guides us through this journey we call life, in a partnership we call marriage.  It's been quite the roller coaster!  Multiple hills and valleys create the topography of our road.  Our journey has included numerous mountain top celebrations to enjoy and just as many--if not more--significant spaces of muddy waters to wade through and deep pits to dig out of.  Our life together has been anything but boring!  But by the grace of God, truly, we are here, together.  As we take the next steps on the rest of our journey together, we pray God's blessing over us as He blessed Abraham and we lean into Him for all things and the way in which we should go for If God is for us, who is against us? Romans 8:31 :-) <3

We Had a Blast

Connor turned 15 at the beginning of the month and we had a blast celebrating him.  We started the day with an acai bowl before going out to the park to launch rockets.  John and Jozsef were both able to attend but Nikolas was at work.  

We had six rockets to play with.  We lost two due to wind current and one broke apart mid-flight but all take offs were a success.  It was a lot of fun to shoot them so high us that we could barely trace them and then to see the children take off running to catch and retrieve them.  

The day was beautiful and cooperated fully--the rain moved in right after we packed up our rockets and went to our next activity--bowling.  While we were there, it straight dumped rain.  It's a good thing that bowling is played indoors!  :-)  We also shot some pool while we were there.  Connor's love of science helps him understand angles enough to be a decent shot.  ;-)  

After being at the bowling alley, we went home for dinner. We were happy that by then Nikolas could join us.  Connor chose artichoke chicken as his meal--it's a family favorite and it was great for a rainy evening.  Cake and gifts followed before we called it a night.  

Fifteen years sure has come and gone quickly.  Connor is such a joy with his quick wit and creative/inventive mind.  I can't wait to see where God places him and how Connor will use the gifts God has given him.  We sure are blessed to have been gifted Connor in our family.  Happy Birthday Connor!  We love you!